Jim Harbaugh’s been to a lot of places. Pasadena. Ann Arbor. Now, Los Angeles. But none left him as shaken, emotional, and rooted as Vatican City. It wasn’t a vacation. It was a pilgrimage. Back in 2017, Harbaugh brought over 150 players, staff, and family members to Rome. Many had never left the US. Others had never been in the presence of the kind of power that doesn’t scream, just radiates. For Harbaugh, this was personal. His grandfather, Joe Cipiti, came to America from Italy at age 4, and Harbaugh never forgot those stories. Ships. Sacrifice. Survival.

Standing just inches from Pope Francis, Harbaugh said, “If I accomplish nothing more in my life, if I go right now, I’ll be going out a blessed man.” So when asked about his meeting on July 17, he replied with the same emotion, “Yes, yes, well documented,” with a grin and the weight of reverence in his voice.

“I got a great picture in my office. Sarah, my wife Sarah and I met Pope Francis at the Vatican. Gave him a Michigan football helmet and in size eight and a half pair of Jordans. I can’t confirm if he ever wore them.” That’s classic Harbaugh. Part awe. Part humor. But make no mistake. That trip shifted something in him.

That wasn’t lip service. You could see it. You could hear it. His wife Sarah reached for the Pope’s hands, kissed them, and said, “I love you.” Harbaugh presented a helmet with Pope Francis’s name and number 266, plus custom Jordan sneakers. In return, the Holy Father asked for prayers. Harbaugh walked away stunned. “It’s been more emotional than I anticipated. I’m living in a cloud of grace right now I can’t describe it.”

He tries to, still. That July 17 comment wasn’t a throwaway line. It was a moment of connection. Harbaugh keeps that picture in his office not because it looks good, but because it means something. A football coach who’s preached toughness for decades found something gentler. Something still and deeply grounding.

Jim Harbaugh still remembers the special meeting

He left with conviction. And he carried that into his next chapter as the Chargers‘ head coach. When asked about meeting Pope Francis, Harbaugh didn’t hesitate. “You could just see the holiness, you know, in his eyes. I mean the Holy Spirit was just flowing through him.” That wasn’t media polish. That was a man still processing something that cracked him open spiritually. You don’t say that unless something real has moved through you.

Sarah had never seen him speechless. “He couldn’t speak, so he looked at me. I’ve never seen my husband at a loss for words,” she recalled. “He was at a loss. He felt a true life-changing experience.”

Harbaugh’s youngest son, John Paul, was baptized at the Vatican. His daughter Addie received her first communion there. The man who thrives on game plans and grit walked into the most sacred site in Catholicism and came out with more than memories. He came out with a different lens on life.

While it was a symbol of the pain Pope Francis carried in his heart, the stillness had an entirely different meaning for Jim Harbaugh. It was about presence. Purpose. “It felt like this is what it would be like to meet Jesus Christ,” he said. “Very emotional. His face is beautiful. His smile. The way he talks is peaceful. I’ve been trying to figure out what the experience means.”

There was no game clock ticking down. Just a man, a husband, a father, sitting in wonder, trying to absorb the divine.